Google Restoring Gmail Accounts After Buggy Update

Google apologized last night for a bug that deleted e-mails and contacts for about 40,000 Gmail users. All the data will be restored soon.

The technical difficulties were caused by a storage software update bug, which affected 0.02 percent of Gmail's 200 million users. When Google discovered the problem, the company immediately reverted to the old version.

The bug affected several backups as well, so Google has been restoring the data from offline tapes, which is a much longer process than transferring information from another data center.

UPDATE MARCH 3: Google reports: "The problem with Google Mail should be resolved. We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience and continued support. Gmail should be back to normal for the vast majority of people affected by this issue. If you are still experiencing an issue, please contact us at gmail-maintenance@google.com."

About the author

Danny Goodwin formerly was Associate Editor of Search Engine Watch, where he also covered the latest search marketing and industry news. He joined Incisive Media in October 2007, in charge of copy editing columns that appeared on both Search Engine Watch and ClickZ. Prior to a life in the search industry, he worked in the journalism field, working in numerous newsroom positions, before later working as a freelance copy editor.

The U.K. Supreme Court has granted permission in part for Google to appeal against a ruling relating to a dispute over the user information through cookies via use of the Apple Safari browser.
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